Moral Valuations of Nature and the Making of Sustainable Cities in Sweden

How do moral values about nature shape urban sustainability at the intersection of civil society and urban governance?

This question speaks to an understudied phenomenon: the conviction that nature is inherently good and provides solutions to urban problems. This project addressed this gap by focusing attention on the overlooked role of civil society associations.

The study investigates the historical role of associations in urban sustainability by focusing on moral valuations of nature in Swedish urban gardening and agriculture associations.

The project uses a historical sociology approach combining archival research and interviews to compare two diverging regions in the country to explore factors leading to diverging outcomes.

The results of the study will be collected in an open database to inform future research, governance and democratic participation.

Data collection and analysis will be conducted in 2025, 2026 and 2027. 2028 will be dedicated to developing the database.

The project seeks to understand the factors in the formation and change of moral values of nature over time by contributing to the sociology of morality and and environmental sociology.

The study will provide both a substantial knowledge contribution on the processes affecting urban sustainability outcomes in a case of crucial importance for green transition, as well as a tangible outcome in the form of a database that can serve as a toll for research, government and civil society.